Mechanism for breaking and cleaning cotton



March 31, 1925.

J. C. GARNER MECHANISM FOR BREAKING AND CLEANING COTTON 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug 3O INVENTOR.

WW @w ATTORNEY.-

March 31, 1925.

v 1,531,650 J. C. GARNER MECHANISM FOR BREAKING AND CLEANING COTTON Filed Aug. 30, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 31, 1925 UNITED STATES JAMES C. GARNER, OF HOUSTON, TEXAS.

MECHANISM FOR BREAKING AND CLEANING COTTON.

Application filed. August 30, 1921. Serial No. 496,873

To all whom it may concern: I Be it known that I, JAMns C. GARNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Houston, in the county of Harris and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mechanisms for Breaking and Cleaning Cotton, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for breaking and cleaning cotton. The object is to provide a mechanism which will be more efficient than those heretofore used, and be capable of a number of differ ent uses or modes of operation, so that it will be adapted for successfully treating materials in any or all of the ordinary conditions.

Fig. l is a side elevation, partly in vertical section, of one form of mechanism embodying my improvements.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same.

Figs. 3 to 9, inclusive, are views of details.

l, 1 indicates the side members of the frame, they being made ofany desired ma terial and forming parts of a housing for the breaking and cleaning mechanism. .16 indicates the hopper receptacle to which the material to be treated is initially supplied. 2, 2 are gripping rollers carried by shafts mounted in the upper part of the frame and immediately below the discharge opening of the hoppen.

The breaking drum 6, on a horizontal shaft 18, is mounted in bearings 19 secured to the frame and immediately below the breaking rollers. The drum comprises the heads or spiders l0 and the peripheral element composed of longitudinal bars provided with sharpened spikes 17; the bars and spikes being preferably steel castings; each bar having two longitudinal rows of spikes integral with it. The drum is rotated by pulley 2O and belt 20, actuated from a suitable source of power.

11 is the cleaning drum shown as positioned immediately behind the breaker drum 6 and of substantially the same diameter,

both drums being rotated anti-clockwise, when viewed as in Fig. l. The drum 11 comprises heads or spiders carried by shaft 11*, at the ends, and peripheral bars secured to the heads; the shaft being mounted in bearings supported on the frame; The peripheral bars 21 are, preferably, castings with tangential webs 21 and integral central radial webs 21, formed or provided with cleaning teeth 21. The teeth are not sharpened at their extremities; and between each and the next there is an indentation more or less rounded.

Below the drums 6 and 11 is a screen 9, formed in two sections 9"-, 9', each section being concavo-convex and with the concave side approximating, in position, the cylinder generated by the teeth of the drum. The section 9 of the screen, at its forward edge 9 lies close to said cylinder; at'its inner edge 9 it is deflected away from the cylinder to form an upward tapering discharge passage 9*. forward edge arranged to provide a wide,

but tapering, entrance-way at 9, and its rear edge 9 is relatively lowered to provide a wide discharge 9.

Below the screen 9 is a hopper 27, which receives the particles of material that pass through the screen; the walls of this hopper converging to a conveyor 28 at the bottom,

which carries to a suitable point of discharge the particles of dirt and foreign matter that fall'into the hopper. This conveyor is rotated from drum shaft 18 bya belt 29, pulley 30, and sprocket chain-31.

In the top wall or cover 12 (comprising the sections 12, 12, 12', 12) of the housing The section 9* has its there is a relatively large opening 5, 5 for i the admission of air from-the atmosphere or from a blast mechanism. 2 indicates a device for controlling the streams of air through these openings, and their directions. It is here shown as an adjustable valve-like plate, having its lower end hinged on an axis as near as practicable to the conmion tangent line of the cylinders, generated by the teeth of the drums. I

This valve plate is wide enough vertically to extend through theopening at 5, 5*. Its position is controlled by a toothed curve bar 38, with handle 32. It is locked by bar 34: rigid on the frame or housing, which engages with the toothed bar 33, a spring 36 normally maintaining engagement of the lock bar.

The spring surrounds a pin 35, which passes through aperture 35 in yoke 34" that holds it in position; the pin having a head at the lower end against which the spring bears. V

The material which leaves the drum 11 passes into the chamber in hood 13. S is an escape duct communicating at its lower end with the hood chamber and at itsupper end with the main discharge duct 23. In the hood chamber are devices for controlling the directions of travel of the materials that pass backward from drum 11.; these control. devices being such as not to interfere with the volume or pressure of theair drawn into the ducts 8 and 23 by the suction apparatus. They comprise a relatively large valve-like plate 14, which acts as a rear closure wall for the chamber in hood 13. Any desired inclination, relatively. to the vertical, can be secured. by adjusting either the lower end of the valve, or the upper. The lower end is pivoted to a toothed adjusting bar 37, with handle 15, the bar being optionally movable at any time, yet automatically locked by devices similar to those indicated by numerals-3.4 to 36, and above described. lVhen the lower. end is adjusted to. its innermost position it closes the passage, down ward, at 15?. But this lower end .can be moved outward, optionally, to permit materials escaping at 9 from the drum 11 to move downward. Below. this escape passage there is a receptacle 43 for the material that drops,

The upper end of the valve plate can be, moved forward or backward: by pinion engaging rack 42, secured to the valve-plate,

the latter having side flange walls; 14?, adapted to support such rack. The pinion is carried by shaft. 39 mounted in the upr per parts of the hood walls and. provided with an external hand'wheel38. The shaft 39 passes through slots 41 in the rack bar 4:2

and in the side flange wall of the valve, thus permitting the forward and backward movement of the upper end of the valve.

When the upper edgeof thevalve plate 14L registers with the rear edge of the duct 8 the chambers in the hood and in the duct are cut off from the open atmosphere; but when the upper end of the valve is at any line intermediate of the rear edge and of thefront; edge of the mouth at the lower.

: end'of duct 8, there will be a rear air-inlet port at 8 opento the atmosphere, through which air can enter duct 8, notwithstanding that-the forward port 8* is reduced in area.

In addition to the air ducts above'specilied there is a supplemental duct indicated as an entirety by 4 and comprising a' front. section 22, a bottom section 22* and a rear vertical section 22. The "front section has an opening or port 22 in its inner wall, through which the duct can communicate with the chamber ofdrum 6. This opening or port is controlled by a valve plate 7 hinged at its upper edge at 7 It canbe adjusted by hand lever 24.- and locked by. detent 25 and segment 26.

VVhenthe valve 7 is opened completely, the main air line control valve conventioniterate ally illustrated at 3 being open. and the valve at 2- beingiin its re armost position,

the air drawn into the chamber of drum 6 will pass under the gripping rollers, and it and the materials in the chamber of drum 6 are caused to travel downward, peripher-. ally, around the axis of the drum and then backward or inward. The drums themselves, rotating at high speed, act as powerful fans which force the streams of air along the path described.

It the valve 2 be adjusted to any of its,

intermediate positions there will be a corresponding division of the downward moving streams of air, one passing over the top of. the drum 6 and then downward and 'around it, and the other passing directly to the drum 11 and downward and under it and backward:

When the valves 7 and 2 are both adjusted to any oftheir intermediate positions there willbe a further division in the ini-, tial stream of air, part oft-hat which enters the chamber of drum 6 passing immediately therefrom through the by-pass duct at, while the remainder takes the path through the interior above described.

The manner of operating the mechanism above described will be readily understood, and the work accomplished will be appreciated when one recalls the various conditionsin which cotton is found, at one time or another, after it has been picked, and before it reaches the consumer or final shipper.

In some cases large masses are found which would be regarded as of a good grade were it not for the fact that the cotton in them has become commingled' or charged. more or less with foreign materialspf either. of numerous; sorts. Sometimes these masses, are accumulations of smaller masses that. have been handled around warehouses.

Again, large masses are found that have been subjected. to compression or. to such conditionsthat they have become compacted into relatively hard bodies, which must be its disintegrated or broken up before any cleaning operation, properly speaking, can be effected, or before the fibers can be separated from each other. Sometimes large masses require handling which original y were considered of a superior sort, but the cotton in them has become wet, or deteriorated by weather exposure; and such damp cotton will be compacted into relatively solid, hard bodies or lumps, and these, likewise, require breaking up and disintegrating.

l-le'retofore different machines were required, one for disintegrating or breaking up the more or less compacted and solid fied masses, sometimes dry, but generally in a wet condition; and another for treating masses which, at the outset, are found to be loose and open but which are charged with soil, grit, sand, trash of various sorts and foreign materials of many kinds.

The object in designing the present apparatus was to provide a mechanism by which cotton masses having any of the above characteristics can be readily and economically opened up and cleaned; by which, for example, a wet mass can be subjected to one series of actions and, after simple adjustments are made, a radically different mass can be acted on by the same apparatus.

Thus assume that a heavy, wet, compact mass is to be treated: ,It is supplied to, and fed from, the hopper 16; the valves 3 and 7 are opened; the valve 2 put in its rearmost position, and the suction apparatus is put in operation to exhaust the main duct 23 and the supplemental duct 4.

As soon as the gripping rollers 2, 2 (after their initial engagement with the mass in the hopper) begin to deliver the bat of cotton to the drum 6, the teeth of the latter, rotating with high speed and momentum, begin to tear the cotton into shreds or small masses by the action of said teeth or spikes 17 All of the air at the port 5, 5 passes across the upper part of the breaking drum 6. It dislodges the small masses or clots of cotton fibers and carries them into the part 22 of the outer or supplemental duct 4:, through which they travel directly to th main discharge 23.

If, on the other hand, the mass which is initially delivered to the hopper 16 is dry, light and open, it is desirable to compel it to pass around the breaker drum 6, over the screens andunder the drum ll. For such work the valves at 7 and 3' are closed, and the valve 2 has its upper edge adjusted forward some distance to. permit air to come downward both in front and in rear of it into the drum chambers, and the valve 1a is adjusted to correspond with the composition of the mass passing through the machine. The air entering through the front part 5 of the port 5, 5 passes over the drum 6, and then down and around it, acting to dislodge the cotton masses that are caught on the spikes, and to force them downward toward the screen and inward through the machine. At the widened throatway 9* these massesiare thrown backward into the entrance 9*, where they are caught by the teeth 21 and blades 21 of the cylinder 11, and are impinged on by the air streams entering through the rear portion 5 of the port 5,5, as well as by the air drawn backward by the drum 6.

The bars-and teeth of both of the drums, particularly of the inner drum 11, act to assist in forcing streams of air along through the machine. At 12 the upper wall r top of the housing is brought down close to the circles of rotation of the ends of the teeth 21, a cut-off thus being formed which stops the air streams from following the drum, they, instead, being forcibly deflected away from the drum and into the hood'13. The actions of the air currents entering the drum chambers are, to blow the cotton off from the teeth or spikes, thrust it down towards the screen 9, 9", assist in advancing it along the curved path, blow the particles of foreign material through the screen, and

assist the drum in finally ejecting the cotton into the hood 13. As the small sub-masses of cotton are moving over the screens they are severely shaken and rubbed or rolled,

these actions resultingin thoroughly separating the particles of'dirt and foreign Ina-Q terial and ejecting them 'throughthe screen. The construction of the blades'aud teeth on the drum 11 are intended particularly for a this rolling and rubbing action'of the cot'-- ton masses. w

In addition to the two extreme adjustments of the valves 7, 2 and 3, just above de scribed, to correspondto extreme conditions of the material, there are numerous intermediate adjustments whichcan bemade to conform to various conditions. [If the mass fed from'the hopper comprises not only a body of light and relatively dry fibers but also masses of compacted lump's'or clots, po's sibly damp, the valves 7, 2 and 3 may each be partly opened for the purpose of allowing the heavier particles or sub-masses taken off from the batby the spikes of the breaker roll to be driven by themimmediately into the outer duct 22, while the lighter, drierand more open fibers of less specific gravity will tend to remain with the spikes until they have passed the port 22, after which they will be carried by the air and by the teeth over the screen and into the hood chamber at 13. I

In'many cases there is a greater or less proportion of the initial mass which should not be propelled bythe drum teeth along,

and over, thescreen, inferior results being --I which is in such condition. And it is of great importance that use be made of a supplemental exit for such cotton, such as the exit port 22", leading to the duct 4 through section 22 and adapted to take the cotton immediately from the breaker roll.

The object in providing adjustment for both the top portion and the lower portion of valve lO is to enable the operator to vary the paths which the air shall take, and vary the quantities of the materials which'travel up or down, and regulate their force. It is desirable to have only that amount of air go upward which is necessary to lift the filaments and small masses of cotton. It should not be'suflicient, either in quantity or force, to lift the foreign particles which are heavier than the cotton and which it is desired to separate therefrom. 7

If the lower end of the valve 14. be moved outward to form an opening at 15 in the bottom of the hood l3 properly related to the opening at the top, the force of air is reduced at thepoint where the cotton coming from the machine is. thrown against the valve to such an extent that the air will only lift the cotton, but is not powerful enough to take up theforeign particles, and the latter are allowed to drop from the machine into the receptacle at 43.

By adjusting the upper end of the valve 14 the amount and force of the air required for lifting the cotton can be varied to meet varying conditions in the materials without cutting off or modifying the air suction in the main line or duct 8. If the valve be moved forward the duct 8 is not entirely closed to air, for a stream can be taken in from the atmosphere at the back of the 1 valve, thus maintaining the predetermined volume to be taken into the duct by suction.

Vhat I claim is:

1. A cotton opening and cleaning mechanism having a drum with cotton breaking or opening teeth, means for supplying cotton to the paths of said teeth, means for supplying a stream of air and guiding it to dislodge'the cotton from the teeth immediately after it is lodged thereon, cleaning means adjacent said drum to which the cotton is passed from the drum, and means for receiving thedislodge'd cotton and guldmg it imwhich the cotton is transmitted in the revo- ,saLeso lution of said drum, and means for receiv ing the dislodged cotton and taking it im mediately away from the drum, thereby diverting the same from said cleaning means.

3. A cotton opening and cleaning mechanism having a drum with cotton breaking or opening teeth, means for supplying cotton to the paths of said teeth, means for supplying a stream of air and guiding it on lines tangential to the drum and intersecting tne lines on which the cotton initially approaches the teeth, selectively operable means for immediately receiving the cotton dislodged by the air and taking it away from the drum, and additional cleaning means to which the cotton is fed when said last mentioned means is thrown out of opera: tion.

'4. A cotton opening and cleaning mechanism having a drum with cotton'breaking or opening teeth, means for supplying cotton to the paths of said teeth,v means for supplying a stream of air and guiding it on lines tangential to the drum and between the supplying means and the axis of the drum.

5. A cotton opening and cleaning mechanism having a drum with cotton breaking or opening teeth, means for supplying cotton to the paths of said teeth and substantially in a radial direction with respect to the axis of said drum, means for supplying a stream of air and causing it to travel across the radial lines of initial contact of the-cotton with the teethand in the direction of the travel of the teeth and means for receiving cotton dislodged from the teeth by the air immediately after the teeth initially contact therewith.

6. A cotton opening. and cleaning mechanism having a drum with cotton breaking or opening teeth, means for supplying cotton to the paths of said teeth, means for supplying a stream of air andcausing it to travel across the radial lines of initial contact of the cotton with the teeth and optionally alternative means for guiding the cotton through either of two paths after its separation from the teeth, at least one of said paths leading to additlonal treating means. 1

7. A cotton opening and cleaning mechanism having a rotary drum provided with cotton breaking or opening teeth, means adjacent the drum for holding a compact cotton bat and feeding it to the paths of the teeth, means to supply a stream of air, 7 means to guide said. stream relatively to said drum to immediately remove the cotton from the teeth, means for supple mentally separating and cleaning the cotton, and means for guiding the cotton after" it leaves said teeth to said supplemental cleaning means.

8. A cotton openingand cleaning mechanism having a rotary drum with cotton breaking or opening teeth, means adjacent the drum for forming a compact cotton bat and feeding it to the paths of said teeth, means for supplying a stream of air to said drum to, separate the cotton from said teeth immediately after it is lodged thereon, means for supplementally cleaning the cotton after such separation, and op tional means for alternately taking the cotton dislodged from the teeth either to said supplemental cleaning mechanism or- 10. In a cotton opening and cleaning mechanism, two adjacent cotton-separating drums in series, the chambers for the drums adapted to permit cotton vto pass therethrough from a point'of supply to an exit, and from one drum tothe other, means to supply a stream of air "tothe first/drum chamber and means for guiding said stream around the first drum and around part of the periphery of the, second drum and to theexit. w f '1 11. In a machine for opening, and cleaning cotton, the combination of two adjacent cotton-separating drums, the casing providing chambers for-the drums and having a cotton inlet and a cotton exit, means for passing-cotton through said chambersand from onedrum to the other, means to sup ply a stream, of air to the second drum chamber, and means to guide said air to impinge upon ,materials coming from the first drum chamber to the second.

12. In a machine for opening and cleaning cotton the combination of the two drums, the housing having chambers for said drumsand adapted to have cotton-pass therethrough to an exit, means for supplying streams of air simultaneously; to both of the drum chambers, and means adapted to cause all of said air to pass, optionally, through either of the drum chambers.

13. In a machine for opening and'cleaning cotton the combination of two toothed drums, the casing having two drum cham- :bers adapted to perm-it cotton .to be passed therethrough, meanstor supplying a stream of air and for alternately conducting all of said air to one of ,said'dru'm chambers QIPdlWdlIlg and t eam nto two streams and directing oneiof said streams through each of said drumchambers, I

14. 111 a machine for opening and cleaning cotton the combination of the two cotton-separating drums/the casing having the two drum chanibers adapted to permit cot-Z ton to pass therethrough, means for supplyacross the top out the first. drum in the direction of its rotation and for optionally guiding a stream of air vertically downward to the second drum 1 15. In a machine for opening and cleans ing cotton the combination of the two cotton-separating drums, the casing having the drum chambers adapted to permit cotton to pass 'therethrough, means forisupplying a stream of airto each of said dru mchamhers, means 'for guiding one stream across the stop ofthe first drum and thence downward and'under said drum to the second drum, and means for, causing thesecond stream of air to pass do-wnwardin .front, of the second drum and to cause both streams to pass under the second drum. v V Q 16. 'In a machine for openingand'cleaning cotton the combination of the two drums, the casing having two chambers for the drums, means for supplying a stream of air to the firstdrum chamber, means for causing itito travel downward and thence under the first drum, means for preventing the air from being carried entirely around the first drum,,means for supplying air to the second drum and causing it to travel'downward and under said, drum and means for .pre-

venting'the air from being carried. entirely around the secon'd'drum. Y

' 17.7In a machinefor opening clean-' ing cotton, a rotary drum with cotton breaks ing or opening teeth, .a chamber vforsaid drum, means for supplying cotton to the paths of said teeth, a cotton cleaning mechanism supplemental to said drum, a passageway for the cotton from said chamber tosaid supplemental cleaning mechanism, a supple mental passageway for the cotton leading from said chamber, and means for optionally causing the cotton to pass from said chamber through either of said passageways.

V 18. In a machine for opening and cleaning 7 cotton, a rotary. drum with cotton opening orbreaking teeth, a chamber for said drum, means for supplyingcotton. to the paths of saidteeth, a cotton cleaning-mechanism sup-3 plemental, to said drum, a passageway for the cotton from said chamber to said supplemental cleaning mechanism, a supplemental passageway :tor thercotton leading from said chamber, means for-supplying air inga stream of air and guiding it to travel to said chamber, and means :for optionally causing the said air to travel through either of the said passageways.

19,: In amachine for opening and cleaning cotton, a rotary dr m with cotton breaking to be carried upward by the air, and to permit particles of material foreign to the cotton to separate from the cotton and move downward, and means for adjusting said battle adapted simultaneously to vary the force of the air passing from said mechanism into said duct.

29. In a mechanism of the class described, means for supplying cotton, means for breaking or opening the cotton and cleaning it, a discharge duct for the cotton, means for moving air through said mechanism and into said duct, means arranged to be impinged on by the air to cause the arresting of the particles foreign to the cotton, and means for adjusting said impinging means,

the impinging means being adapted to vary the force of the air traveling into said duct from said mechanism.

30. In a machine of the class described, the combination of cotton supplying means, means for breaking or opening the cotton, a

discharge duct for the cotton, means for to be impinged on by the air passing from said mechanism to the duct to cause the defleotion'of solid particles foreign to the cotton and for varying the quantity of the air passing from said last mentioned means into the duct.

Intestimony whereof, I alfix my signature. i

JAMES c. GARNER. 

